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Introducing RE(not so)super7

November 8, 2016

REsuper7Archives

Hello all! Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Andy, aka REsuper7, and as my screen name alludes to, i’m what you would call an RE-Amemiya fan-boy (REsuperG is a brand of oil sold by RE-Amemiya at some point, i’m not quite sure if it’s still around). David graciously offered me an opportunity to contribute to the Final Form USA blog, but i have a feeling he’s gonna soon regret he ever did. I’ll try my best not to bore ya’ll to sleep. I figured as my first post i’d provide a little background on myself and how i got into RX-7s.

My love for Mazda’s venerable third generation RX-7 (FD3S) is deeply rooted in a love and respect for the great Japanese rotary tuner, RE-Amemiya. Although, truth be told, my relationships with RX-7s started off as more of a love-hate thing. I got my first RX-7 back in 2003. My dad offered to buy me a car after i graduated from college and having been engrossed in the JDM tuning scene since i was 16, I was on the prowl for something i could tune in proper JDM fashion. What i really wanted at the time was an Integra Type-R, an NSX, or a Supra, but alas, none of those cars fit into my meager budget. One of the criteria i used to search was I wanted something that wouldn’t be replaced or superseded by a fancier/newer model in a few years. That’s ultimately how i stumbled upon the third generation Mazda RX-7, seeing how it had been discontinued in the U.S. after 1995. Having seen many RX-7s in old Video Options VHS cassettes that i had, i knew the car had potential. I ended up buying the very first RX-7 i came across.

It was a stock 1993 Brilliant Black RX-7 Base Model with roughly 35k miles on it. Being young and gullible, i had no idea what i was getting myself into. Within days of purchasing the car, i found out the turbos were not working properly and the car was losing power around 3500rpm, where the secondary turbo comes online. From that point on, it was a constant uphill/downhill battle with the car. One minute loving it because of the way it looked and handled, but then the next minute hating everything about it because there was always some issue that needed fixing. In comparison to the 350z and the S2000, which were new cars at the time, the RX-7 felt old and dated. It didn’t even have a 6th gear for crying out loud! I still remember posting up my RX-7 on 350Z and S2000 forums asking if anyone was interested in a trade, but no one took the bait.

All the while, to educate myself on RX-7s i spent a lot of time watching Video Option VHS cassettes and scouring the web for pictures of JDM built RX-7s. The one webpage i kept coming back to to stare at the cars was the RE-Amemiya Gallery Page. I must’ve spent the equivalent of days looking at each of the customer cars built by RE-Amemiya. My favorites were always the FDs with the RE-Amemiya N1 bumper/carbon undersweep with the AD-GT widebody kits. No mattered how many other RX-7 styles i came across, none could surpass RE-Amemiya, although FEED came in a close second. Right around the same time, Hot Version had kicked off their first Touge “Max” Battle competition where they pit some of the best tuner cars in a head-to-head battle, Initial-D style, at Gunsai, a very tight and technical circuit, built for bicycles, but mirrored the famed mountain roads in Japan.

My small but precious collection of JDM video cassettes and dvds

In the first inaugural TOUGE MAX championship match (originally aired in the “Rocket Rotary” Hot Version DVD shown above) stood the 650hp red beast known as the MCR R34 GTR vs. the smaller and less powerful RE-Amemiya RX-7 running the stock twin turbos in their “boost up” configuration yielding roughly 400hp, a classic David vs. Goliath matchup. Seeing the images of the baby blue RE-Amemiya RX-7 tear through the turns around the tight touge track, hearing Tsuchiya Keiichi comment about how easy the car was to drive, and ultimately seeing the red Goliath fall before the once assumed underdog, solidified my desire to build an RE-Amemiya RX-7. Unfortunately, being fresh out of college and newly married, i quickly ran out of funds and my RE-Amemiya build never came to fruition as i sold off my car and all the parts i collected in favor of a Ducati 1098. It would be another 7 years before i finally came back around and fulfilled the dream i originally conceived all those years ago.

If you’ve managed to make it this far, i commend you. There’s actually a lot more to the story that i would like to share at some point here, but i’ll spare you for now. In case you’re wondering, here is the end result of all my blood, sweat, and tears:

I’m proud to say that this car was built entirely by me in my garage, including all the bodywork/paint. But to be honest, i can’t take all the credit because the RE-Amemiya parts fit so well right out of the box that it didn’t take any major modifications to make it look good. The one thing i take the most pride in also happens to be my greatest downfall, which is why you’ll often hear me put my car down in comparison to some other cars out there. I think what it boils down to is the fact that because i did everything for this car by myself, i have a great appreciation for the professionalism and attention to details others have taken with their builds. In addition, every single flaw in my car sticks out like a sore thumb to me because it was either caused by me or just never addressed (yet). But as with all builds, it’s never finished and i still have many plans to improve upon what you see here. I’ll be sure to post updates as i go, so if you’re interested in seeing what i’m doing next to screw up my car, check back often!

Thanks for reading! yes, i’ll definitely be going back and providing more details of my build. Didn’t want to cram too much into one post. This one was really just to serve as an introduction. but stay tuned, i’ll go into more details in the near future.